Ari's Mark
by jessisparks2315
Summary: A slightly A/U fic, set before Twilight. What if Ari made a mistake? Lost his temper? What if that fateful day on the rooftop never happened? Please R/R!
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: This is a fic that occurred to me at a ridiculous hour of the morning – but I actually ended up liking it and managing to get it down on the computer! That said, please review – I love feedback and constructive criticism, plus I'd love to hear people's ideas on what will happen next... :)  
And reviewing's really easy... just a little click... c'mon people, I'm fishing for it... :) In fact, if I get 4 solid reviews, that's when the next chapter will come up! Sound good? Good. But I'll stop fishing. (Review! K.)**

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Everything was grey - hospitals always were, but now Kate could feel the grey seeping into her bones, the incessant buzzing of fluorescent lights rattling her brain. She could feel them in her teeth.

There was a single bright spot in the monochromatic world; it was bright red and blossoming across the left side of Gibbs' chest. He was on a gurney, surrounded by a sea of green scrubs that buffeted Kate back and forth like a dinghy in a storm. Wearing a worn and slightly faded sports coat over a white collared shirt, turning red with that awful red flower.

The green sea was shouting about "blood pressure" and "lung punctured." There was red on Gibbs' mouth, too, but his face wasn't contorted in pain - it was set, determined, but his eyes were falling in and out of focus and he was fighting to draw oxygen from the mask over his face.

Suddenly his eyes focused with sharp blue clarity on her face and his hand shot out toward her, through the doctors and orderlies working over him. He caught her wrist and hauled her downward, below the sea. It suddenly seemed very quiet, fittingly, like being underwater with the turmoil of the surface muffled.

"Kate," he coughed, breath misting the oxygen mask. "Haswari. Ari. Home. Jenny, talk to Jenny about Mossad."

"Okay, Gibbs," she said, shaken as he gasped for breath, "I'll talk to the director about Mossad. Don't worry about it, Gibbs, we'll take care of it, and you'll _be fine." _It had the tone of an order.

A doctor pulled her back and the world was noise and confusion again. She didn't wait for the statement that she wasn't allowed in trauma, instead turning on her heel and striding out, one hand hovering near her gun.

Tony's immaturity aside, she trusted and depended on him more than anyone else, knew he was good at his job - and she knew he was probably already at the scene of Gibbs' shooting, so she pulled out her phone. Less than one ring:

"Kate? Why haven't you been answering? Gibbs is -"

"Shot, I know, Tony."

"Then where've you been? Get out here. In front of his own home."

"I'm at the hospital, DiNozzo, relax."

"What's the word?" She could hear McGee asking with forced calm.

"McGee wants to know-"

"I heard him. He's in bad shape, but I think he'll be okay. Through and through, but they think it hit his lung. Left side."

"Left side?" McGee was talking again in the ordered, reasoning voice he used to talk through any problem, computer, logistics, or otherwise.

"Left." They both sounded grim, because they were both thinking the same thing.

"A sniper like Haswari doesn't shoot and miss that badly."

"He wasn't shooting to kill."

-  
Ziva David's career was perfect. A flawless movement not only from trainee to fully trained officer, but from child to woman, carefully fabricated and executed nearly from the moment of her birth. Her every assignment was - quite simply - perfection. Assassinations, espionage, coercion, all gone off without a hitch. Officer David could be counted upon to do anything from fixing a flat tire to taking out a world leader.

This latest assignment was no different. Being a handler of an asset wasn't as exciting as her past assignments, per se, but the change of pace was manageable, even refreshing.

She was on excellent terms with the asset, in any case. A nearly lifelong friendship to work from made the relationship seamless, a coexistence of handler and asset that made them a magnificently efficient team. After all - Ziva David and Ari Haswari had practically grown up together.

But tonight, that simple mission had become exponentially more complicated. Someone - not necessarily Ari, she reminded herself - had shot a federal agent, a member of the government for which her asset was supposed to be working.

The phone call had been abrupt and brief, opening the line to her father's voice.

"Ari wouldn't have anything to do with this, would he?"

"No. I'm certain of it. He's far to careful to do something like this. One of his companions, perhaps, or someone with a grudge, but not Ari." She had been firm. It was not Ari. Whoever this Agent Gibbs was, he was not her asset's concern. If her father thought that Ari held a grudge for whatever shooting match had occurred at NCIS - an encounter that Mossad would never admit had happened - he was wrong. If anything, Ari had walked away the victor that night.

The woman, though.

This "Kate" he kept talking about. She was another story...


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Okay, Tate fans, here you go. Sorry it took me so long to upload, **

"He always seems so invincible," she murmured, resting her head on the crook of his neck and shoulder - this was where she went the moment she was frightened, the moment anything stable began to shake. "I guess I just can't handle him being... _hurt_."

He aimlessly pulled his fingers through her hair (remembering the time before she would even come close to letting him touch her, much _this_), still halfheartedly watching the old movie on the tv screen. "He'll be fine. It's Gibbs. You know he'll be fine."

"He's not leading the team, though. It's strange to adjust." She tucked her feet into the space between the sofa cushions, as if burrowing for warmth. He pulled her a little closer with an arm around her shoulders, resting his cheek on her head. "Investigating a coworker is just-" she groped for a better word, and, failing to find one, continued: "Strange."

"Especially Gibbs."

She nodded. "Especially Gibbs."

Tony exhaled, then looked down at her, grinning crookedly. "There is one benefit." (She wasn't going to be happy with him for it, but since when did that stop him?)

Kate looked up, frowning. "To Gibbs being in the hospital?"

"Yeah."

That look came over her face (the one that she got whenever he was about to say something particularly stupid) as she said, "What is that, Tony?"

"For as long as he's out, he can't figure us out."

"Us."

"There _is_ an _us_."

"I know."

"Then what was the 'us?'"

"It still sounds weird," she said, bending her head again to (obviously) hide her smile. (She couldn't let him see _exactly_ how happy that one little word made her.)

He laughed at her, then, because he felt the same, and maybe she'd forgotten about his comment about Gibbs (who he was truly worried about, but his faith in Gibbs' unnatural abilities had never yet wavered, and why would he ever think that superhuman stamina would fail the boss _now_ of all times?).

"So... you're happy Gibbs is in the hospital so that your sex life can improve?" she said, looking up at him again and moving as if to sit up.

He pulled her down again, so that she was across his lap, pinning her down and smiling widely this time. "Is that a promise?"

She smacked him on the shoulder but couldn't help laughing. "No guarantees, DiNozzo. Let me up." He refused for a moment and kissed her instead.

"Still want up?" he asked. She ignored the words and pulled his head back down. He laughed at her again (after a good long while, he didn't exactly mind the distraction) and pulled her back up so that he could bend over her all the better, because they both knew exactly where this was going -

_Ring._

"You're kidding me," he muttered, looking up and pulling his phone from his back pocket as Kate irritably straightened his collar.

"Who is it?" No answer. "Tony?"

"Gibbs," he said, "Sh." He hit 'okay.' "Boss? What are you doing calling me? ...at the office? No, no I'm... I'm at home. Kate?"

Kate's eyes widened briefly before he said, "Yeah, I'll call her as soon as you're off the phone. You okay?" He winced at some form of verbal abuse. "Glad to hear it, boss." He hung up.

"Gibbs _called_ you?" she hissed, looking up at him. "Is he okay?"

"Well enough to yell at me."

"He could be dead and still be well enough to yell at you."

He decided to ignore that, kissing her briefly and rolling away from her to land with his feet on the floor, helping her up and (somewhat arrogantly, she thought) helping her readjust her clothes. "He wants to know what we've found on something about Mossad."

Kate clapped a hand to her mouth. "I didn't talk to the director. Or, I did talk to the director, but I talked to the wrong director." She swore.

"Relax, Kate," he said, grabbing his keys and tossing hers to her. "We're taking care of it. How did you talk to the wrong director?"

"He meant Director Shepherd, damn it." She brushed by him out the door. "Leave five minutes after me, DiNozzo."

He smiled as he watched her go. (He'd really distracted her that much?)


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Hey there, wonderful readers! I'm so sorry it took me so long to update, and I'm sorry this isn't too long a chapter, but life's been busy lately! I'll try to update soon. That said, nothing motivates me more than... you guessed it! REVIEWS! Let me know what you think, and what you think is going to happen next... Pretty please? Also, my wonderful Beta, RedHandedJill44 is responsible for most of Tony's lines in this one. She's the Tony-writing master. ;)**

**Reminder: If I owned NCIS, this is how it _would_ have happened. Read and enjoy (and review! sorry.)! **

**(Also - I'm sorry for the upload issues! It keeps deciding that I have this chapter copied twice in this document.)**

The air felt almost stale as Officer David walked into NCIS. Still. Hushed. As if everyone in the entire complex were holding their breath.

It made her walk more softly.

The elevator - small and confined as it was - was still almost a welcome relief from the muted business of the rest of the office. The doors slid open onto a wide, high ceilinged room, full of sleek lines and suited agents, and her training kicked in - observe, retain, _use _the information around her. One wall was decorated with the faces of NCIS' most wanted. The rest were left bare.

The room was divided by mid-height cubicle walls, separating several small blocks of desks. The largest one was overshadowed by a mounted plasma screen, which was currently filled with the images of a silver-haired man... and her asset.

Three people stood in the center, staring at the images and talking. No - four. A young woman rose from behind the far desk as Ziva approached, speaking excitedly. She was dressed strangely - stark makeup against pale skin, boots with platforms that added inches to her height, and a short purple skirt with a black t-shirt. There was a lab coat over the office chair behind her. Ziva turned her attention to the second woman, hanging back before any of them noticed her.

The other woman was shorter, with shoulder-length dark hair and a stance that spoke of confidence and a need to prove herself, and the ring of her voice was commanding. This woman was in charge - no. She was deferring (just slightly) to one of the men, in the way she turned at the instant he spoke and listened intently to his words.

He was tall, broad shouldered, with a wide mouth that smiled all too often, occasionally in a forced grin, as if he were trying to make the others smile with him. Brown hair. Italian, Ziva decided. He seemed to be in charge. Possibly involved with the brown-haired woman - the way their bodies angled toward each other - but she couldn't be certain.

Which left the third - slightly disgruntled-looking - second man. Softer build and face, intelligent (there was something in his face), though slightly frustrated. Hair slightly long, holding a stack of papers and trying to interject whenever he could.

The oddly-dressed woman - Abby? Yes! The dossier said she was Abby Sciuto, forensics - noticed her standing in the background and nudged the second man - who must be Timothy McGee, the computer prodigy - and pointed as casually as possible. If they were Sciuto and McGee, that left the other two to be Kate Todd and Anthony DiNozzo. Ziva straightened as they all turned toward her.

A hint of confusion took over DiNozzo's face as he took in the situation. _It's because he wasn't accustomed to leading, he was merely filling in for Agent Gibbs,_ she concluded.

"Um." He looked her up and down. "Can we help you miss...?"

She lifted her chin. "David. Officer Ziva David." And she waited for his introductions, but he waited for a moment as if examining her. Agent Todd was looking at her as though she were trying to put the Mossad operative together like a puzzle, but couldn't see all of the pieces.

"Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo." He turned to his companions. "This is Special Agents Kate Todd and Tim McGee and our Forensic Specialist Abby Sciuto." He narrowed his eyes. "But by the looks of things, you already knew that." She didn't answer, simply continued to hold his gaze. "Now if that's all, will you please excuse us?"

Harsh, she thought. Not what she thought of him at all. She pictured someone more... goofy, careless. Stupid, misguided, hardheaded? No, not stupid or misguided (at least not right now), but most certainly hardheaded.

"That is not all," she said, and four heads turned back to her as if pulled by the same string. None of them looked particularly pleased. "I have been sent to meet with your director."

Todd and DiNozzo exchanged significant looks. Todd nodded slightly, arms folded across her chest, but before either could say a word, a fifth voice came from behind her.

"Officer David?" Ziva turned, smiling slightly.

"Director Shepperd," she said, exchanging the customary kiss of greeting with the redheaded woman.

The director turned to the thoroughly nonplussed team. "Officer Zavid will be acting as our liason to Mossad," she announced. "After I brief her, she will be working with your team."

Deafening silence.

"Am I clear?"

Murmured affirmatives.

Jenny beckoned Ziva toward the stairs, but Sciuto's voice stopped her.

"Director?"

"Yes, Abby?"

"Any word on Gibbs?" Her voice sounded very small. She was dependent on this Agent Gibbs - almost a childlike dependency. Ziva made a point to recall this.

Director Shepperd obviously had a soft spot for the forensic scientist as her own voice became smoother and more comforting when she replied, "Not yet, Abby. He's critical, but stable. And I have faith he'll pull through."

With that, they made for the stairs. Ziva could feel four pairs of eyes burning into her back. They didn't trust her. And why should they?

She wasn't one of them.


End file.
